Hot Point Fitness, Day 1

[avram]

Started the Hot Point Fitness plan today. I considered skipping it after I woke up late (I was out gaming at drcpunk’s and mnemex’s place yesterday till late, and then stopped off to do some shopping on the way home, and didn’t get home till past 1:30 AM, and then went online like a doofus), but managed to scrape up enough willpower to go for it anyway. Whew! I’m gonna ache tomorrow, I can tell. Today’s workout involved nine different weight routines aimed at various muscle groups (gone as either three sets of ten reps, or two sets of 20, with stretching between the sets to help the muscles get maximum benefit), plus three different abdominal routines (the last of which I was unable to do), and aerobics (five minutes to start off with, then 20 minutes after everything else). I feel well and truly wrung.

I’ve also started the plan’s nutrition regimen, which involves five meals a day, each comprising a serving of protein (from a list of recommended sources) about the size of my palm, and a serving of carbs (from another list) twice that size; there are also secondary lists (of sub-optimal foods) with smaller serving sizes, and a list of things I can eat freely (which includes lettuce, peppers, and cucumbers, so I should go shopping again). I had a hamburger (low-fat beef, no bun) and mushrooms for breakfast. I’ve got more beef in the freezer, and some chicken cutlets, and I should probably get some of those egg substitute things. And more mushrooms, and maybe some broccoli. And chickpeas.

I actually don’t need to start the nutrition plan till I’ve been on the workout plan for a couple of weeks, but I’m exploring it to see how I can make it fit into my life. I already see a problem: The plan tells me to eat every three hours, and to have my first meal within half an hour of waking up, and not wait at least 90 minutes after eating to work out, and my workout took two and a half hours today.

The plan was designed by a trainer named Steve Zim, but sadly I can’t manage to conjure up the voice of a maniacal space alien when I read it.

Comments

Chris here

[(Anonymous)]

The diet regimen actually sounds a lot like the Zone program I was mentioning to you, except that this guy doesn't mention anything about fat allotments. Do you feel a yawning-chasm feeling in your tummy-tum-tum after eating that level of carbs? That was the hardest thing to deal with for me with the Zone, and I don't know if it goes away after a while. It was intense enough that I don't look forward to dealing with it again to find out.

[avram]

The simple version of this program doesn't have a fat allotment; the guy basically says that you're getting some fat in the foods on the list, and you don't need any more. There's also a more advanced version that weighs things out by the gram, but I'm not going there.

The nutrition part of this plan is a small part of the book; most of it is about the weights and stretching. The idea is to give all of your major muscle groups frequent (short, intense) workouts without repeating the same routines on consectuvie sessions.

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that Zim isn't the maniacal space alien. It's the drill sargeant from Starship Troopers.

[avram]

You've been sans TV for a few years, right? So you probably haven't run into Invader Zim, a very twisted cartoon on Nickelodeon.